This book comes out March 31, 2010

Love it!

If you are into Literature, specifically French Literature you will not want to miss out on this book.

College professors will be using this in class, and their students will be using it as a study guide.  Those that want a taste of french literature, will be able to read a two page summary of the most important french books and know which they want to read in more detail.

I really enjoyed this book, but I must warn, it’s more of a niche book.  I can see this being applied to every Literature class in colleges everywhere.

Product Description

Brilliant.

Film studies having been one my favorite courses at school, I deeply appreciated Emmett’s accounting of how different films affected his thinking and actions.  And while that can get somewhat tricky, Emmett James masterfully brought life, humor, and wit into his stories.

I must say it is refreshing to read a memoir where everything isn’t gloom or an ego boost.  Emmett retold his story honestly, with no issue on how it made him look.  That’s the true sign of a good memoir. Because of this, at the end of reading this book, you may end up not like the author.  That is such a refreshing feeling.  As you read, you get to know the PERSON behind the words, not this glamorized view that ties neatly at the end.

While Emmett does go through up and downs in life (like all of us do) he finds humor in a lot of it and finds a way to make you laugh not AT him, but with him and the lessons that were learned.

For film fans, this is a great read, as you see how films really do shape a person and their decision making processes.  For memoir lovers, this book will leave you feeling like you have entered into his world, and for book lovers everywhere, this book provides endless entertainment in a beautifully written package.

This is a brilliant book.  I read the entire book in one sitting and enjoyed it in its entirety.  One thing that surprised me was that this book wasn’t snatched up by bigger publishing houses.  However, great job to “FizzyPop” for believing in this book.

Product Description

Set in Croydon, South London, in the 1980s, Admit One details how self-deprecating writer Emmett James escaped from the pains of adolescence by going to the cinema. Through wry wit and observation, the writer reflects, obsesses, and rages about film and its correlation to our pasts. Life soon imitates art, and the narrator finds that his true calling is in transcendence from one side of the screen to the other. He decides to leave England for the only place where he can realize his dream of becoming an actor–Hollywood.

We follow the narrator on his numerous adventures: as he jumps from forgery to pornography to crashing the Academy Awards under the alias of a nominated writer. All the while, the films that inspired each tale contextualize this humorous collection of stories. The narrator ultimately provides a unique insight into the fascinating industry of film, eventually himself stumbling into the biggest box-office grossing film of all time.

This book is written by a parent for parents.  It is an inspirational book as to how to live each day being thankful for what you have.

Susie Larson, author of the book, is likable and relate-able right from the start.  She doesn’t preach or pretend to know what is best or what works for everyone, but instead talks to you as a friend.

It’s like reading a book from a dear friend, whose only hope is to help you become the best parent you can be and teach your children to not take anything for granted.  It’s written perfectly.  While it tends to get heavy on the religious talk (it is written from a religious perspective after all), every parent will take away great lessons from it.

It’s easy to read and you won’t feel pressure to do things her way.  You also won’t be made to feel guilty if your children don’t act the way hers do.   She states every family is different.  Susan Larson simply speaks of her own experiences as a parent and shares lessons she has learned while living in this “me-me-me” society.

This book was very well edited.

All parents should read this book.  Even though, as I said, it is written with a religious context, there is so much to learn and be inspired from it, it should be picked up and read.

Product Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

FANTASTIC!

When I began reading this book, I was worried there would be some kind of political slant to it.  Would the doctor say he was for the war, or against it?  But this book wasn’t about that.

Dr. Coppola focused on what he set out to write about: His experience as a Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq.  It was told with such fluidity, honesty, and rawness, that your own feelings about the war melt away and you are left to face the sacrifices of the children of Iraq.

I’m sitting here staring at the computer wondering what I could possibly write about this book to express just how deeply it moved me, and I can’t find the words.

The topic is on point, the feelings are written from heart and soul, the editing is tight, the cover is perfect.  This book has all the markings of a best-seller.

It’s just another example as to how quickly we make judgments as to what goes on across the world, without thinking about the men and women who are there, putting their lives in jeopardy, to save human beings.  Because like Dr. Coppola said, and most importantly did, we are all human beings.  Those children didn’t ask for any of this.

I give thanks to Dr. Coppola for giving us an insider view of what our medical personal deal with and do without judgment.  With this book, he is giving us a look into the going-ons in war we rarely get to hear about.

This book will be appearing on best-seller lists.  It just will.

Product Description

The fierce, true-life account of United States Air Force pediatric surgeon Lt. Col. Dr. Chris Coppola, this book describes his experiences through two deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom inside a military trauma hospital at Balad Air Base, just 49 miles north of Baghdad. Novelistic in scope and vision, this memoir extends beyond objective reportage to give genuine voice to U.S. surgeons and soldiers, Iraqi translators, and everyday civilians whose core beliefs have been tested in the turmoil of war. Raw and powerfully moving, it reveals how one man’s extraordinary courage and commitment to children survived and flourished even as he witnessed some of the most unspeakable horrors of war.

I grew up with lots of animals, all of them from shelters or the street.  Because of this I always love heart-warming stories of dogs who were rescued from difficult circumstances.

Ruth Tshudin was looking for a dog and came about finding Jessie through Petfinder.com

Jessie the dog tells the story in her own words. As a character she has no personality and we don’t tend to get emotionally attached to her.  The reading is easy but nothing mind-blowing.

Jessie was abused by a family child and taken to a shelter where she then found an adoptive parent in Ruth Tshudin.  Jessie seemed to fit into her new home with ease. Apart from a few minor health problems, she seems to be a dream dog. It is stated she teaches the new owners many of lifes different quirks.  Seems to me as overreaching by the humans.

The only purpose of this book is for a light laugh for people that are into dogs and dog-themed books.  While it is nice that Jessie got adopted and the family was completed, it’s the same as every other book about dog adoptions.  Scratch that, there are many others that are much better.

One other point that threw me from this book is that there are religious undertones to the book.  I knew this going into the book, as I was warned beforehand.  But for any other buyer, you will be hit in the face with this, and it isn’t brought up anywhere in the description.

A MAJOR disappointment and disgust for me is the closeness of this title to another book.  I’m upset with the publisher for not wanting to change it, and the “author” for not having enough brain cells to make the book more distinguishable.  It seems so lazy and forced, that it dimishes the value of anything written between the covers.